Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy New Year!

Instead of buying each other Christmas presents this year, Jim and I decided to go on a weekend trip for New Year's Eve. We had such a fun time that I think we are going to make it a yearly tradition!

On Saturday, we drove to Bentonville, Arkansas to see the new Crystal Bridges Museum founded by Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart mastermind, Sam Walton. All the art housed there was created by American artists. The pieces range in date from the Colonial era to the present day.

Go see it. It's free.

I didn't take any pictures of the Colonial art because... I don't know. I'll just blame it on Jim. You would recognize some of the portraits of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.

Past a few exhibits and down the hall, this sculpture blew me away.

Confession: I am generally uncomfortable with nudes. They make me feel embarrassed and look away.

But this was stunning. Like, "I wish they had a bench here so I could sit down and stare at this chick for a while" type stunning.

Rosie the Riveter: The artist modeled her after Michaelangelo's depiction of the prophet Isaiah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Can you read the signature?

Norman "I produced some of the most iconic images of American culture" Rockwell.

This Pinocchio statue was made in 1935.

Thousands of individual spools of thread created this inverse image of The Last Supper. You view it by looking through this little glass globe.

The placard next to this striped painting explained that the artist painted it this way to show that colors are just as beautiful and impressive as flowers or landscapes. I loved it.

Running into this guy was a surprise...

because he was about 3 feet wide and hanging on a the wall.

It's made from silicone, hair, glass and other things that I don't remember. The artist created it as a portrait of what he does not want to look like when he gets older.

Even if art isn't your thing, the modern architecture and natural surroundings will blow you away.

7 comments:

Thanks, sis! I think you would really love the museum. Travel & Leisure named Bentonville AR as one of the hottest travel destinations in THE WORLD for 2012 because of this museum. It was the only US city to make the list!